


Comfortember 23: Exhaustion

by FlyinBanachab



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/F, Migraine, Only One Bed, Road Trip, Sleep Deprivation, Swearing, the road to the promised day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyinBanachab/pseuds/FlyinBanachab
Summary: A fucking migraine. A fucking MIGRAINE. It had to be NOW, of all possible fucking times.
Relationships: Rebecca Catalina/Maria Ross
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Comfortember 23: Exhaustion

The desert had no roads, no landmarks, not even any scenery. Just an unending expense of yellow under an unending expense of blue.  


As such, it took Rebecca longer than it should have to notice the growing hole in the center of her vision. It's just glare. It's just afterimages from the sun. It's nothing. It's fine. She blinked furiously and kept driving, willing it to go away, refusing to give in-- until phantom fireworks started flickering across the sky.  


"Fucking hell," she spat, stomping on the break. The truck lurched to a stop and Rebecca dropped her forehead to the steering wheel. A fucking migraine. A fucking MIGRAINE. It had to be NOW, of all possible fucking times. Was it the brightness of the sand? Maybe the lack of sleep, as hard as they'd been pushing since they'd received the call. Or maybe it was just the general stress of, you know, plotting to overthrow the government. The irony of the stress-triggered migraine...   


...could suck it.  


"FUCK," she said into the steering column. It had been years, literal years, since the last one, so long she thought she'd outgrown them. Now maybe, maybe she'd get lucky today: her vision could clear after a few minutes and that would be that. No pain, no nausea, just feeling a little out of sorts for the rest of the day. But... that hardly ever happened. More likely she was ten minutes away from fighting not to puke all over the truck. And that could last all. Fucking. Day.

Best to wake Maria before she was completely incapacitated. On the off chance it was a false alarm, well, she'd understand. Rebecca hated to do it--Maria was only 3 hours off a 10-hour stint--but they couldn't afford to stop. No telling what was going on at Central. Every minute counted.  


Rebecca looked for the door handle and saw only a vaguely swirling mass of darkness. Goddammit. Finding it by feel instead, she stumbled across the sand--already hot, god the desert sucks--and somehow fumbled open the latch on the trailer. A blast of cool air greeted her and she eagerly climbed up into it. This refrigerated truck had cost more than she would ever admit, but during this crossing it was literally a life saver.   


Maria lay on the makeshift pallet at the front of the trailer. The past months had sent them all over Xing, from lavish mansions to shadowy alleys, finalizing deals brokered from an unremarkable general store in east Amestris. Maria's Xingese had been a real asset-- hell, Maria had been a real asset. Smart, capable, determined, eager...  


_Jean leaned forward in his wheelchair. "Ross isn't just another piece of cargo to pick up. She's your partner on this operation."  
"You're seriously going to make me work with a stranger on this? It's just gonna slow me down."  
"Don't worry," he said with a wink. "You'll get along great."  
"Listen, just because YOU get along with everyone--"  
"Becca. Trust me on this one."  
_

For once, Jean had been right. The more Rebecca got to know her... the more she wanted to get to know her. Maybe once this whole thing was over... if they survived... and weren't in prison...  


"Becca?" a groggy voice sounded from the haze.  


"Sorry- it's only nine am. But we've got a situation." Before Maria could leap up with gun drawn, Rebecca hastened to add, "We're safe. But... I've got a fucking migraine coming on. I can't see to drive."  


She was rubbing at her right temple, she realized. Yeah, it was starting to throb. And her ears were starting to ring. Suddenly she found herself sitting on the floor of the truck.   


"Woah, hey! Here." Maria's arms were around her shoulders, helping her up, guiding her to the pallet. Rebecca flopped onto it like a fish and threw an arm over her eyes. Here came the nausea.  


"What can I do?" Maria asked, concerned but not panicky.  


"Nothing, unless you've got migraine meds on you." Easy to get at any drug store. Not so easy to get in the middle of a giant fucking desert. "Can you drive?"  
A pause. She'd gotten, what, three hours of sleep, after ten hours behind the wheel? It was a terrible idea. Maria should be sleeping. But what choice did they have? Every minute counted.  


"Of course." There's that steel. Rebecca nodded minutely.  
But the doors didn't close. "There's really nothing else I can do?"  


"Just gotta--" deep breath-- "wait it out now. No time. Drive!"  


A hand on her shoulder. "Ok."  


Then the doors slammed shut, agonizingly loud, and a moment later the truck roared to life, choked into gear, and lurched into motion.   
Time blurred into a haze of misery. She focused on her breathing and hoped Maria was staying awake up there.  


At some point the truck jerked to a stop and the doors opened. "Becca? How are you?"   


"Extremely fucking bad," she groaned, making Maria laugh sympathetically.  


"Have you had any water lately?"  


"... no." Definitely hadn't thought about that. Who could think? A canteen was pressed into her hands.   


"It's open," Maria said. Rebecca grunted and managed to drink without opening her eyes.  


"Still ok to drive?" Rebecca asked.   


A pause. A long pause.  


"I'm starting to doze off," Maria admitted.  


"Shit."  


"Yeah." Another pause. "I just needed to get up and walk around, I'm sure it'll be--"  


"Too risky. Come on." Rebecca scooted as far as she could to the edge, gingerly turning her back to Maria. Even moving slowing, the world rushed and swirled around her like it was made of water, and she had to take three deep breaths before she could speak again. "Naptime."  


"But we can't afford to--"  


"We can't afford to crash either." They both knew it was true. They both knew it sucked. But. Sometimes you don't have a choice. Bodies give out. "Come on. The sooner you sleep the sooner we'll be back on the road. Or the. Whatever the fuck. Back on the sand."  


"I don't want to bother you, I can sleep in the cab."  
Rebecca tried to keep her reply professional. "It's a hundred degrees in there. It's fine." Better than fine. "Come on already."  


"If you're sure..." Maria carefully sat down next to her, gently stretched out next to her, back to back. Oh, she was sure.  


And then-- it was quiet. And still. And dark. And Maria's back pressed warmly against hers, breathing softly, in and out. Hardly how she'd imagined their first time in a bed together. She didn't even have time to enjoy it; Rebecca dropped to sleep almost immediately. Central would just have to wait.  



End file.
